Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Gertrude Rentals's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Gertrude Rentals

  5233 Avenida Navarra Sarasota, FL 34242-2029

• 

  Gertrude Rentals

  504 P.O. BOX 504 Locust, NJ 07760

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/14/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Rental established for ********************************************************** Oct *****, 2024 on Sept 24, 2024. Paid with Debit card, ending in 9206 for the amount of $787.59. Hurricane ****** hit Sept 27, and left damage on the island. 3 feet of water in most places. I checked in and our condo was not damaged, was still planning on traveling as ****** made it sound like all was ok. Then come this past week, ****** was building and growing, I reached out on Tuesday, Oct 8 to let them know depending on the track of the hurricane and we may be seeking to cancel the trip. He said check back on Friday for an update and we can talk about options. So I waited for the storm to hit and then he sent out an email on Oct 10 saying all is good, condo is good, they look forwarding to hosting us. But upon further investigation on the official Sarasota County social media, as well as the Sarasota County Government site it stated there has been severe damage to **********, and for visitors to stay away as only business owners and residents are allowed on the island. I also had a brief conversation with the county commissioner that also confirmed now is not the time to visit siesta key as she said it is a hot mess. But still Gertrude Rentals will not refund our 4 day stay. Currently there is no water or power. The pool at the condo is not functional and beaches are closed. I have attached documentation from ********, and the county websites. I also am attaching a few of the email exchanges we have had with Gertrude Rentals. They claim all is ok and since the condo is intact we are still able to enjoy it. All we are asking for is a refund due to the exponential circumstances. The island has had mass amount of destruction and is not even livable at this point. Gas is also limited in the area. Thank you so much. If you need further information please let me know.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/14/2024

   This traveler was given a full refund two days before this complaint was sent to us.  Yes, traveler had to wait until 24 hours before arrival to get a refund, but this was explained to them and was sent them one promptly 24 hours before arrival.  They just had to wait a week. Understand I can't legally take away money from an owner and give it to a guest no matter how badly I want to until the property (in this case the product being sold) actually "fails to be delivered".  Imagine paying someone for a service to be delivered on November 1 and demanding a refund on October 21 for failure to deliver the product.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We booked a Christmas vacation for 6 adults 1 infant for Dec23-25th 2023 through VRBO. The agency who offered the property was Gertrude Rentals in ********. The owner of G. Rentals, it appears, is ***. He is who we sent the deposit to and who we referred to for questions etc. We reached back out to *** to see if we could add an addition night on the 22nd. He confirmed he would add the 22nd ( at half price). My husband and I arrived late night Dec 22nd to find no hot water in sinks in any bathrooms. We decided to wait until the following day ( it was late) to let *** know. The next day we went food ************, and arrived back at the rental around 11am to meet additional guests. We noticed all 3 bathroom toilets leaking and overflowing and an additional strong sewer smell coming from master bdrm. (Side note: in the meantime I had fallen off a bar chair which literally fell apart when I sat downI weigh 125 lbs that had apparently not been repaired properly.!)We contacted *** immediately regarding the bathrooms etc. He said hed send over plumbers in the next 4 hours. We could wait or go. ???We had no where to go, only bathroom option was the backyard , we had an infant, and it was 40 degrees outside (freezing for ******* weather). Plumbers arrived in hour or so, began to work on sinks, toilets, overflows everywhere and they were wading through sewer water (overflowed from toilets) and tracking this through the house and all over bedroom and living room carpets. Things, at this juncture, were unsanitary and we told *** we would be canceling our stay for obvious reasons, expecting a full refund for this horrendous experience. It was Christmas week, no other rentals available, certainly none at reasonable rates at this late date.so we left to squeeze in with ******** friends and family. Huge inconvenience to all. A mess. ***, earlier, had offered to put us up at another property he owned (he sent a link). We were not at all interested in this property, and told him that at this point, we were really not trusting him or interested in renting any further locations from him as he seemed drunk. Oddly he was rude, and unreasonable on the phone, much in contrast with his more courteous and coherent emails he seemed to be sending to cover himself with a paper trail .Despite knowing that we were very upset and had vacated ( sewer smell, no hot water, plus no bathroom facilities had made it UNHEALTHY to stay.with a new baby no less), *** sent yet another late email (6pm) stating all was well and he could send a cleaner to tidy up bathroom of wed like. Long story short, throughout this ordeal we were staying in contact with ****, sending pictures, video, emails, to be sure we covered by the vacation guarantee in place for this very reason. They assured me they understood why we were leaving and that our $$ would be refunded and they would escalate the call to the American guarantee team for refund. No such luck.days later after no follow up, we called vrbo back to speak with a supervisor. in the American guarantee department. We did. His name was *******. He nonchalantly ( could really care less) said that hed call ***. He did, as we held on the line. He then came back to report that he had spoken with *** and the problem had been fixed that day ( we checked in on the 22, they repaired it all day on the 23rd, and reportedly were done by 6pm..) so there would be no refund. As for the cleaning and unsanitary conditions after sewer overflows etc tracked through carpeting in all areas of the homethat was up to *** to clean ( or not clean) not vrbo, and *** was free to decide, at his discretion, whether or not he would offer a refund. As stated above, we have texts, emails, video, etc of all the correspondence. I have uploaded a few photos as well as the vrbo contract. There is much more I can provide upon request. Thank you for your time. *************************************** ************

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2023

  "**********" DOCUMENTED EVENTS:
  -Customer books nonrefundable Beach Vacation with baby on 12/3/22.
  -Customer arrives 12/22/22, 3 PM check-in, weather is mid 70s sunny skies, no reported issues at property.
  -Customer reports plumbing issues 23 hours after check-in, weather is too cold for the beach at 40.
  -Gertrude maintenance arrives in under 1hr clears one toilet, confirms hot water is working in 5/6 sinks.
  -Customer wife demands full refund.
  -******************** offers an upgrade to a nearby rental, free of charge.
  -3rd-party drain company clears drains under 4hr after complaint. Also restores hot water sink with issue.
  -Customer wife still demands full refund, they don't want to stay.
  -3rd-party drain company invoices photos piles of baby wipes pulled from drain stating does renter have baby, problem was a %$^&-ton of baby wipes.  I assure you my maintenance team didnt stuff customers drain with baby wipes.
  
  TO **********: 
  No one should have to deal with this. Everything was in perfect shape until one day after your arrival.  Then, coinciding with a turn in the weather that ruined your beach vacation, your pipes got clogged with baby wipes and that is a fact as documented with photos dated in a third-party invoice.  I can guarantee you no one on my staff flushed baby wipes down your toilet or did anything that would justify your horrible behavior.  You said every awful thing you could think of including repeatedly referring to a member of the staff who suffered a stroke in 2021 as "being drunk.   Furthermore, ALTHOUGH NOT REQUIRED BY THE RENTAL CONTRACT OR ******* STATUTE WE, IN A TIMELY MANNER AND ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, OFFERED YOU A FULL UPGRADE TO A SIMILARLY SIZED UNIT IN A SUPERIOR LOCATION.  So far expenses to Gertrude, fair and reasonably caused by you include - weekend maintenance call, weekend after hours drain cleaning, a drain jetting either precautionary or mandatory, and untold legal expenses and damages to our reputation. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/17/2023

   
  Complaint: 18651277
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  False info provided to bbb by G realty
  -My husband and I arrived LATE on the 1st night of our res to find sinks clogging, and no hot water in 3 bathrooms  
  -Remaining guests arrived the following day, early afternoon  
  -photos and video show all 3 bathroom toilets being worked on well into the late afternoon, and finally, into the evening hours
  -terrible sewer smell throughout home and sewer water spread through **************** by 3 workers. 
  -exactly zero babies were ever on premises prior to flooding. Guest and baby did NOT arrive until after the incident. Ample witnesses including plumbers
  -****** (owner g-realty) was the one and ONLY person we spoke with throughout this ordeal. No office person was ever contacted. This is completely false information. 
  -Owner ((******) advised ( verbally and via email which I can provide) that the plumbing situation would be addressed btwn 4pm and 10pm that day. .outrageous to expect paying guests to endure thisin addition, after repeated inquiry regarding health and sanitary issues, no mention was made of thorough disinfecting of home ( we have email stating they have strict Covid cleaning precautions) at all. 
  -****** eventually offered an alternative location which we promptly declined as we, rightly so, had lost all confidence in his word, his professional, his trustworthiness, AND in his lack Covid cleaning standards. 
  We initially booked this res through vrbo but , mysteriously after the booking we were contacted and dealt with ****** going forward.  A refund was promised, via ample phone calls, thru vrbo under their American guarantee and later declined. Supervisor at vrbo  contacted *** and relayed to us that he ( ******) was unwilling to refund $. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************************
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************************